Process for reconditioning perforated record cards



A Jane 2, 1942'.

H. A. oT-rKE PROCESS FOR REQONDITIONING PERFRATED RECORD CARDS Filed June 22, 1938 June z, 1942.k H. A. RQTTKE `2,285,362

.PROCESS FOR RECONDITIONING P ERFORATED RECORD CARDS Filed June 22, 1938 l 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY Patented June 2, y12942 raocEss Foa REcoNDrrloNTNG PERFO- RATED ascolto canne Hermann A. Rottke, Berlin-Schlachtensee, Ger- Y many, assignor to International Business Machines Corporation, New York, N. Y., a. corporation of New York Application June 22, 193.8, Serial No. 215,301 In Germany July 8, 1937 1 Claim.

tistical machines is well known. In this type of accounting system, the cards are scanned by a plurality of contact brushes under an electricpotential. When the brush encounters .a perforation, it contacts a contact-member on the opposite side of the card to cause a current to fiow and effect actuation of the accumulators. The cards are usually laid out in "flelds with vertical lines separating each'eld. The different fields may' represent different types of data, such as customer, date, order number, items of sale, amount, etc. It is frequently the case that a large part of a card may be: perforated to represent data which is fixed or constant, whereas a small part representing one or perhaps two fields may be perforated to represent data which is variable and which, therefore.,V may be changed. Unless a method is devised to wipe out the perforations already existing in these fields so that new perforations representing a change in the data may be placed in that field, it would require a complete new perforation of a new card and the necessity `for destroying the old one.

vIt was found that by using a plastic mass consisting of a chemical solution of acetone and acetyl cellulose in which methyl chloride has been dissolved for lling the perforated areas that the cards could be reperforated and used further. This solution evaporates rapidly and it was found that at normal temperature and atmospheric pressure it dried so Aquickly-on the devices which were applying the mass that there was considerable. trouble encountered in making such application of the mass to the card. In this connection even though the mass when applied to the card penetrated through the holes in the card, it would dry quickly and stick to the applicators and immediately pull the mass out of the perforation so that no closure was effected.

It was also found that the mass could not be generally spread clear across the card, because the mass would leave beads along the edge. For these reasons special measures had to be. taken to effect a suitable method for applying this mass and it was found that, if the mass was applied to the card under a substantial vacuum by means of a brush-like wick and applied within the edges of the card, the closure of the perforations and reclamation of the cards were successful.

Further objects of the instant invention reside in any novel feature of construction or operation or novel combination of parts present in the embodiment of the invention described and shown in the accompanying drawings whether within or without the scope of the appended claim and irrespective of other specific statements asu) the scope of the invention contained herein.

l In the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a front elevation of a mass applying device and a drying device.

Fig. 2 shows a side elevation of the drying device.

Y Turning now to Fig. 1 the mass applying de'- vice is shown generally at A and the drying device generally at B. The applying device is diagrammatically shown and is mounted on a base I suitably supported by standards 2 and enclosed by means of a housing 3 having an opening 4 normally closed by an air-tight cover 5. A stack of cards 6 may be placed in a hopper I through the opening 4. bottom, one at a time, by means of a picker 8 connected by a. link 9 to pin I0 on the wheel'I I. This type of picker feed is well known in the art and may be any suitable type such as that used in the Hollerith type of machine, such as is shown, for example, in the patent to E. A. Ford, No. 1,684,389, dated September 18, 1928. The wheel II is rotated by drive 'shaft l2 connected thereto by means of beveled gears I3. The drive shaft I2 is connected to one side of a friction clutch Ila which is normally held in closed con- 'at 2I and integral with an. amature 22 which cooperates with a magnet 23. With the power driving the wheel II through the shafts I6 and I2, energization of the magnet 23 causes the clutch member Mb to disengage the member Ila and causes the wheel I I to stop. Wheel I I is connected to a gear 24 which drives gear trains 25, 26, 21, 28, 29, 30, 3| and 32 and has ,a 1:1 ratio. Gears 25, 21, 29 and 30 are connected to feed roll..

ers which receive the card from the magazine and feed it between the rollers from left to right as viewed in Fig. 1. The feed rollers may be thin disks which grip the edges of the card or they may be cylindrical rollers having a series of annular grooves which span the index point positions where the perforations lie on the cards. A reservoir I3 for containing a supply of the plastic These cards are fed from the The wick 33 is mounted with one end in the reservoir of the plastic mass and is so adjusted that, when the bracket 34 iseievated bythe high point of the cam, the wick will wipe the card which is under the roller 21 and, when the bracket 34 is at its lowest point-of the cam, the wick will not touch the'card. An opening in the case 43 is provided at 40 and is further provided with a slidable and air-tight gate member which may be raised or lowered by means of a r'od 4I to open or close the opening. A suitable coupling such as a pipe coupling 42 is provided and is mounted to the case 43 of the drier generally shown at B and opens into the drier.

Another coupling 44 leading from the interior of the case 43 is provided for the purpose of attaching a vacuum pump to evacuate the air from i within the drier case. With this drier case cou` ets 43 and is rotatably mounted on a shaft 41.`

Fixed to the shaft 41 is a pulley wheel 43 around which is wound a cord 49 having a weight 5l attached thereto which tends to rotate the drum in a clockwise direction. The periphery of the drum is provided with ratchet teeth which are engaged by an escapement 52 pivoted at 53 and fixed to an armature 54. The armature is associated with a magnet 55 so that upon the energization and deenergization of the magnet the single oscillation of the escapement 52 causes the drum to rotate an angular distance equivalent to a single tooth on the periphery. There are an equal number of teeth and pockets so that the rotational advance of a single tooth presents a new pocket to receive a card.

A normally open contact 53 is mounted on the casing 43 and lies in the orbit of rotation of a pin 51 which extends from the side of the drum 45. When the drum rotates one complete revolution in a clockwise direction, thepin will strike the back of the contact blade 53 to eiect closure of the contacts 56. The contact 55 and the magnet 55 are connected by means of a wire to a terminal board 59, mounted on the outside of the casing and provided with a series of sockets. Movable plug wires are connected from-the terminal board 59 to the terminal board 8l, which terminal board is connected to the magnet 23 and to a pair of contacts 62. The contacts 62 are controlled by a cam 53 which are rotated from the gear 32 so that the contacts open and close once each card feeding cycle. Contacts 52 are connected in circuit with the magnet and contacts 56 are connected in circuit with the magnet 23.

The operation of the machine is as follows: The 4drier B is coupled to the mass applying device A and the air exhausted therefrom by suitable means. Cards are fed one by one from the bottom of the stack of cards to the feed rollers and, as the leading edge of each card just passes the wick 39, the cam 31 causes the wick to be raised against the card and the mass applied from the reservoir 33, holding the wick against the card until just prior to the following edge of the card passing the wick, at which time the wick is lowered away from the card. The card continues to be fed through the opening of the gate at 40 and into one of the pockets 46 of the drum 45. At this time the cam 63 which operates once each card cycle causes the contacts 82 to close and open, which energizes and deenergizes the magnet 55 causing the drum to ro Atate one step and presenting an empty card pocket to receive the next card. These pockets merely support the cards along their outer edges. The feeding of the cards continues with each card going into a separate empty pocket and the drum continually feeding in a clockwise direction until it becomes full, at which time the pin 51 strikes the back of the blade 58 to cause contact56 to close. The closure of contact 55 completes a circuit through the magnet 23 to disengage clutchl members i4a and I4b and thereby cause lthe card lfeeding to stop. The rodll is then pushed down to close the gate at 45 and the drier uncoupled and rolled away by meansv of rollers 35 on which the drier mechanism is supported, after having been uncoupled from the vacuum Dump at 44. In order to avoid the re-starting of the feed mechanism, switch S is thrown to the open position previous to the uncoupling of the drier. Air at atmospheric pressure is admitted to the drierat this time. In the meantime by means of the air-tight gate at 40, the structure and the mass within the mass applying device is being kept under a substantially low pressure. An empty drier is then moved in place and coupled to the mass applying device and to the vacuum pump, air is evacuated from the empty drier first, after which the gate at 40 is open and the process is repeated to fill the drum.

While there has been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a single modification, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details 4of the device illustrated and in its operation may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is the intention therefore to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the following claim.

What is claimed is:

A process for reconditioning a perforated record card controlling a tabulating machine, without materially altering its original dimensions, said process utilizing a filling material comprising cellulose acetate, acetone, and methyl chloride in a plastic form and consisting of the step of applying a thin layer of said material to the surface of said card for injecting said material into said perforations, calendering said card to cause said material to fully occupy said perforations, said application and calendering being effected upon said card in a region of sub-atmospheric air pressure. and then subjecting said card to a region of normal atmospheric pressure, whereby said filling material in said perforations is urged to rapidly dry and harden.

HERMANN A. ROT'I'KE. 

